Leading members of the fiber industry descended on Orlando, Fla. this week for the Fiber Broadband Association's annual Fiber Connect conference to take stock of a national inflection point fueled by the federal BEAD program and the all-consuming rise of AI.

Themed “Light Years Ahead,” the underlying take-away was that the buildout boom is far from over and the easy part is mostly behind us, according to multiple reports from those in attendance.

FBA President and CEO Gary Bolton opened the conference with a state-of-the-industry address.

In doing so, he framed both public and private fiber investments as not being merely about broadband infrastructure, but as the backbone of an exploding AI-driven economy.

Underscoring the central role and growing importance of fiber optic networks, Bolton told attendees:

“We are entering a thinking economy. Value is created by turning information into intelligence and acting on it instantly.”

He set out to quantify the expansive nature of fiber connectivity, noting that across the U.S. more than 100 million homes now have access to fiber Internet – with 11.8 million households connected in 2025 alone.

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As reported by Telecompetitor, Bolton said, there are now over 1,500 active fiber providers operating nationally, with 42 new market entrants and 715 providers that doubled their footprints in just the past six months. 

Lancaster, Pennsylvania has revitalized the city’s long percolating plan for a municipal broadband network, this time via a public-private partnership (PPP) with Shenandoah Telecommunications Company (Shentel). The city’s quest for more affordable, reliable broadband is a quest that’s taken the better part of a decade to finally come to fruition.

Lancaster city officials recently announced that they’d selected Shentel with an eye on ensuring uniform broadband availability to the city of 57,000.

“In 2022, the City issued an RFP for a partner to achieve stated goals, which received five responses, and led to the selection of Shentel,” the city said. “The contract will result in Shentel installing fiber at its sole cost to provide service to 100% of the city’s residents. Shentel plans to commence design and construction immediately upon execution of the final agreement.”

According to Lancaster officials, the city hired CTC Technology & Energy Engineering & Business Consulting to evaluate the city’s needs. The determination to proceed with a PPP with Shental was driven, in part, by the historic broadband grant opportunities being created thanks to the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), and the American Rescue Plan Act, the latter of which provided $39.5 million to the city.